Harvard Researchers Prove Feeling Sad Makes Us Stupid With Money

Whether it’s a king-sized candy bar bought on impulse at the Walgreens checkout during a harried lunch break or an expensive night on the town after a break-up, there is now research to prove that the financial decisions we make when we’re sad are far from savvy. And just in time for the holiday season, too!

Previous research has demonstrated a link between sadness and an increased willingness to spend, but Jennifer Lerner and her colleagues at Harvard extend the investigating to evaluate the quality of the financial decisions we make when down in the dumps. Through a series of three experiments, they uncovered a phenomenon they called myopic misery – a condition where sad participants prioritized obtaining a smaller amount of money in the present over a larger sum later. In fact, median unhappy participants accepted 13 - 34% less money in the present than participants in a neutral mood in order to avoid waiting three months to cash in. Being blue makes us bad with budgeting and unhappiness augurs instant gratification.

But take heart sorrowful shoppers, not all purchases we make when despondent are bad ones. As TIME reported last year, spending on condoms (safe sex), yoga (self-care) and pet products (companionship) has also increased as our collective financial fortunes have flat-lined.